John Arensmeyer is the founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, a national small business advocacy organization, founded and run by small business owners, that brings the voices of America’s 28 million small businesses to the public policy table. The organization advocates for pragmatic non-ideological solutions to the biggest issues facing small businesses, including the skyrocketing costs of healthcare and energy, access to capital, jobs and the economy, taxes and regulations.
With offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, DC, Sacramento and New York, Small Business Majority uses scientific research to understand and communicate the interests and needs of all small businesses, from sole proprietors to 100-person companies. The organization advocates for small business interests on the national and state levels and has built strong relationships with other leading business organizations and a network of individual small business owners.
Prior to starting Small Business Majority, John was the founder and CEO of ACI Interactive, an award-winning international e-commerce company. Information Week named ACI’s signature product one of the nation’s top 100 e-business innovations, and the company was cited by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the top 100 fastest growing private companies in the Bay Area.
Earlier, John was the chief operating officer of a pioneering multimedia business, and prior to that was a practicing attorney. He began his career in national and municipal politics, including three years as an aide to Mayor Bill Green of Philadelphia.
John is a frequent speaker on small business policy issues and is a regular guest on TV and radio, including PBS NewsHour, Fox News, CBS Evening News, NPR's Marketplace and MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews. His memberships include the Association for Enterprise Opportunity's Enterprise Economic Impact Council. In 2009 John served on a panel at the White House summit on healthcare reform. He testifies regularly before congressional committees, and has briefed congressional leadership on the small business perspective on healthcare reform, clean energy, access to capital and economic development.
Terry Gardiner, based in Washington, DC, directs Small Business Majority's policy development and works on long-term strategic planning, where he brings to bear his decades of business ownership and job creation experience. He is particularly focused on policies that will ensure the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act, particularly the establishment of the 50 state small business healthcare exchanges. He also plays a key role in policies that promote a vibrant clean energy economy, access to capital and small business economic development.
Originally a commercial fisherman, Terry founded and spent 22 years as the CEO of Silver Lining Seafoods, later NorQuest Seafoods. He grew the company to over $100 million in sales, with 1,000 employees and markets in 22 countries. After the sale of NorQuest in 2004, he turned to public policy work, focusing on healthcare reform.
Terry is a former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, in which he served for 10 years and authored a host of successful groundbreaking legislation. His work on the $36 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation saves in perpetuity 25% of all oil revenues to fund state government and annually distributes money to all Alaskan citizens to this day.
Terry also devoted considerable time to the development of several lasting institutions, including the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, which promotes the marketing and quality of Alaska seafood products, and the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank that provides needed financing to remote businesses and fishermen. Terry also shepherded the Private Non-Profit Hatchery Act that has been successful in garnering private sector investment to financially support and rebuild Alaskan salmon runs.
Since 2004, Terry has devoted his efforts to comprehensive healthcare reform. He has worked with state-based healthcare reform groups in his home states of Alaska and Washington. He is a member of the G.A.O. National Co-Op Advisory Board and has testified at numerous congressional committee hearings.
Celia Canfield has played senior management and advisory roles for Small Business Majority since its founding. She now advises the organization on its clean energy research and business outreach efforts. She is a long-time small business owner, and, as a consultant in clean energy and sustainability, has worked with West Coast Green, Sustainable Life Media and several other green media properties and solution providers.
With more than 25 years of print and web publishing experience, Celia developed communication programs for some of the world’s largest brands. She built a successful custom content creation agency as a co-founder of Tendo Communications.
Celia is a charter member of Women’s Energy Efficiency Network (WEEnet), and is a member of Efficiency First. She has first-hand understanding of implementing green design and sustainable products and methods from renovating her home to make it LEED-compliant. She wrote about her renovation experiences and was featured in USA Today.
